Two Weeks
by Literati Boy
Summary: Two weeks following the events in A Girls Guide to Dating, Ashley and Spencer aren't talking. But out of necessity, the two will grow closer than before. AshleySpencer, slightly AU, most likely One Shot.


**Title:** Two Weeks

**Pairing: **Ashley/Spencer

**Disclaimer:** I obviously do not own South of Nowhere. If I did, I'd be making my fic canon.

**Additional notes:** Okay, this story takes place two weeks after the events in "A Girls Guide to Dating". However, at the time of this writing, the episode has not aired, so the facts from the episode come only from previews and such. The rest is just prediction material. That said, this story is AU, in that there is an excellent chance that when the episode airs this friday, my fic will become uncanon.

With that said, enjoy the story!

---

Two weeks.

Ashley Davies ticked off another day on the little hand-drawn calendar she'd started carrying with her books. It had been exactly two weeks since she'd ditched school in favor of the beach, and dragged a friend along with her.

Spencer…

Class had only just begun, and Ashley was already looking bored. She had slouched down in her chair and pulled out a little notebook that she used to jot down random thoughts or lyrics or anything that came to mind, the droning voice of some insipid narrator threatening to push into her thoughts. Their science teacher, bless her, had decided to show a video in class that day, making it relatively easy to slack.

They'd been caught of course. Spencer had been right. Although, their skipping alone hadn't been what got them caught. It was a cruel twist of fate that capped off an already horrible day.

Oh, it had started out fine. In fact, Ashley reflected, it had been great in the beginning. She and Spencer had relaxed in the sun, played in the surf, and all the basic necessities of a day on the beach.

"I think I like girls," Spencer had said.

It all went downhill from there. A couple of guys had slowly drifted their way and made idle conversation with them. No big deal, really. But Spencer didn't seem to enjoy it. She grew more and more quiet until she finally snapped, starting to throw all of the things she'd brought into her duffle and rambling angrily.

"All day, I've been trying to tell you the most important thing, and all you wanna do is hang out with…" she'd trailed off for a second, then finished with, "_boys_."

The way she'd said 'boys'…It was as though she'd never uttered a more disgusting word.

And that was that. Spencer had stormed off, and try as she might, Ashley could do nothing to turn her around or call her back.

Turns out, the school had had a lockdown that same day. And when the head count was taken, guess what? Ashley and Spencer were mysteriously missing.

After that, parents had been notified. Not that Ashley's mother had cared. Chances were, she'd forgotten about the whole ordeal a mere five minutes after the phone call from the school.

Spencer, on the other hand…

The last time Spencer had spoken to Ashley was to inform her of a 'month long lockdown at home'. Luckily, her parents hadn't found out about Ashley's involvement, or some restrictions on who the blonde hung out with would have been placed.

Granted, it was no different now than it would have been in that situation.

After that phone call, Spencer had refused to speak to Ashley. She even went so far as to turn around and go the opposite way when she spotted Ashley in the halls.

Frustrated, Ashley closed her notebook and just let her head fall into her hands.

---

"Miss Carlin?"

Spencer Carlin's head sprang up from it's position on her desk. "Yes, Mr. Arturo?"

"Allow me to repeat my inquiry, as your daydream was obviously much more important to you than the subject matter," her English teacher said reprimandingly. "I asked if you could tell us the main symbolic representation in the reading last night."

"Oh, uh," Spencer shifted her papers around for a minute before starting uncertainly, "Taylor was trying to represent something along the lines of God and Satan battling for the souls of humanity, with the fly and the wasp representing different aspects of human nature…I think."

The teacher seemed taken aback for a moment, then covered it admirably and continued on.

"Absolutely correct. This poem, "Upon a Spider Catching a Fly", can easily be compared with another work we read, in that…"

Spencer tuned out her teacher once again and laid her head on her desk. Two weeks it had been since she'd last spoken with Ashley. And as much as she tried to put up the "tough girl" front, it had been easily the hardest two weeks of her life. Classes and home life had all been the same. Go to school, zone out during classes, go home, struggle through homework, repeat.

It really wasn't such a big deal. But she was _making _it a big deal. Despite the short time they'd known each other, she and Ashley were supposed to be best friends. Moreover, Ashley was the one who would understand what she was going through, maybe even be able to help.

The bell signaling the end of class, and mercifully, the end of the day, rang loudly and interrupted their droning English teacher.

"Alright, everyone, have a great day," said their teacher over the hustle and bustle of students practically springing for the door, "Don't forget to do your reading tonight! I want to finish off Taylor and move directly into Emily Dickinson by next week!"

Spencer took her time in packing her things, making her movements excruciatingly slow before finally standing, slinging her book bag over her shoulder and heading for the door.

"Ah, Spencer," came Mr. Arturo's voice from behind her, "Could I speak with you for a moment?"

Spencer let out an exasperated breath before turning around. "Sure, Mr. Arturo. What do you need?"

Mr. Arturo took off his thin glasses and slid them into his chest pocket, ran a hand through his thick black hair, and sighed. "Spencer, I understand that you came into the year late. I expected you to be well behind. However, you picked up the slack admirably."

Spencer nodded along with his words, trying to see where he was going with this.

"And then," he continued, leaning forward, "two weeks ago you started to go downhill. Your work stopped coming in, you failed the last two weekly exams, and today you completely zoned out in class."

"I gave you the correct answer," Spencer weakly defended herself.

"I know, but that's not the point. You need to work out whatever it is you're dealing with, or I don't know if you can make it through this class with a passing grade. Or any of your classes, if I can use your performance here as a measure."

_Work it out,_ Spencer thought rather morosely, _I don't want to have to deal with Ashley right now._

"I'll do my best, Mr. Arturo," she said earnestly, "Now, can I get going? My ride is about to leave."

Mr. Arturo looked at her thoughtfully before nodding. "Have a good afternoon, Spencer."

She nodded in acknowledgement before turning and rushing out of his room.

---

The digital clock beside Spencer's bed glowed bright read, the numbers reading '12:00', reminding her, tauntingly, that she was still unable to get to sleep.

Grunting in annoyance, she threw the covers off and strode over to her desk, booting up her laptop and starting her chat program.

Her breath caught in her throat when she saw Ashley's username on her buddy list. She barely had time to hover her cursor over the "sign out" button when a chat window appeared.

**XrockchickX**: hey.

Spencer stopped, torn. She couldn't sign out now. Hesitatingly, she started typing.

**ohioqte**: what's up?

**XrockchickX**: nothin much. couldnt sleep. u?

**ohioqte**: same.

Spencer bit her lip before typing her next message, a small battle raging in her head.

**ohioqte**: do u wanna come keep me company?

It took Ashley almost five minutes to respond.

**XrockchickX**: sure. ill be there in a few mins.

**XrockchickX has signed off.**

Slowly, shakily, Spencer shut down her computer and stood, walking stiffly over to her bed. She laid down and huddled into a ball.

She'd never been this nervous in her life.

---

Almost twenty minutes later, Ashley was standing outside of Spencer's house. Just below her window in fact. She'd left her own house in such a rush that she hadn't even bothered to change out of her pajamas. It just seemed unimportant compared to this, what could be her only chance to salvage the friendship she had with Spencer.

Now there was only one problem: how did she get Spencer's attention without waking her parents?

She looked around her, then bent slowly and picked up a small pebble. She took careful aim and threw it at Spencer's window, which it connected with with a loud "dink!".

She had to wait only a few moments before Spencer came and opened the window. She stuck her head out and smiled briefly at Ashley, as though she were reassuring herself, before motioning to meet her at the front door.

Ashley nodded and circled the house, stopping outside the front door. She fiddled absentmindedly with a tangle in her auburn hair while she waiting, trying desperately to unknot it.

The door swung open silently and Spencer quickly stepped outside, also clad in her pajamas. She closed the door as softly as possible and then turned to Ashley.

They stood in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes, both avoiding the other's glance, until finally Ashley broke the silence.

"I'm sorry."

Spencer slowly looked up to her, drawing her gaze from the many cracks on her door step, her slate blue eyes reflecting her inner torment as it faded away.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," she replied, taking a step forward, "I overreacted. Really. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that, especially when you were only having a good time. If anything, _I _should be the one apologizing."

Ashley flashed her a small smile. "No, _you _don't have anything to be sorry about. You spent all day trying to tell me something that was really important to you, and I just…blew you off. You'd think that with parents like mine, I'd want to prevent that happening to anyone else, especially my best friend."

Spencer smiled and slowly sat down on the raised stone doorstep, drawing her legs close to her body. Ashley did the same, letting their shoulders and knees touch just slightly.

They sat in silence again, this one not in the least bit awkward.

After almost ten minutes of this, Spencer spoke, softly so as not to destroy the moment.

"Why did you get so flirty with them anyway?"

Ashley didn't need any clarification as to who 'them' referred to. She knew all too well.

"I was scared," she said after a moment, looking straight ahead, refusing to meet Spencer's gaze.

"Scared?"

"Yeah," Ashley sighed, then let out a small laugh. "I was scared of a lot of things in just a few moments. Scared of giving you bad advice, scared of scaring you off, and scared of telling you things you don't want to hear."

"I…don't know what you mean," Spencer said, slightly confused.

"You asked me how you know you're gay. The thing is…I hadn't faced that decision yet. I was with girls when I wanted to be, and guys when I wanted to be. I hadn't yet decided what I was, or even if I wanted to label what I was. And I had to face that in a split second, the second following your question.

"There's nothing perfect about being gay. I've figured this out slowly. It's a life filled with disappointments, longing, and a lot of confusion. I didn't want to be the one to lay that on you."

Ashley turned her head, finally letting her gaze meet Spencer's.

"I was scared of influencing your decision. I didn't want you to think you were gay just because of something I said, or the way I explained something."

Spencer was silent as she let this information process. It made sense now. All of it.

Well, almost all of it.

"So, did you get to know the guys at all after I left?"

Ashley laughed quietly. "Yeah. Losers, the both of them. They were just like all men: all muscle, little brains. One was the star player on his college's baseball team. The other was a senior apparently heading for the NFL. And yet, for college guys, neither of them could hold up an intelligent conversation."

Spencer stifled a loud giggle, then they lapsed into silence for a few moments. She bowed her head down to look at the ground, mulling things over in her head quickly. When she looked up, Ashley's gaze was still locked on her.

"At least they're not the only choice," Spencer said quietly, quoting Ashley's words the day they'd met.

Ashley's eyes widened a bit. "Spence…"

Spencer cut off Ashley by slowly leaning forward, letting their lips brush lightly against each other. Spencer pulled back just a bit, her eyes searching Ashley's, as though silently asking permission.

Ashley nodded and they leaned toward each other again, this time kissing just a bit more insistently, as though they wanted to pour as much emotion as possible into one kiss.

When they pulled apart, Spencer was crying quietly.

"Spence?" Ashley started, "What's the matter?"

Spencer wrapped her arms around Ashley and buried her face into her shoulder.

"I like girls, Ash…And it scares me."

Ashley didn't respond. She merely returned Spencer's awkwardly-positioned hug, letting her cry.

"Don't be afraid," she whispered, stroking Spencer's hair comfortingly, "because I'll be here for you."

**A/N: **One last thing: I don't think that Ashley's sn is ever mentioned in the show, so I made one up for the sake of simplicity.


End file.
